<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Pain of Kindness by soprano_buddy15</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25092742">The Pain of Kindness</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/soprano_buddy15/pseuds/soprano_buddy15'>soprano_buddy15</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Last Kingdom, The Last Kingdom (TV), The Warrior Chronicles | The Saxon Stories - Bernard Cornwell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Missing Scene, One-Shot, Tattoos, gets real steamy there for a second</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:21:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,257</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25092742</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/soprano_buddy15/pseuds/soprano_buddy15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ealhswith asks about Sihtric’s finger tattoos.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ealhswith/Sihtric (The Last Kingdom)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Pain of Kindness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Java_Blythe_Peralta/gifts">Java_Blythe_Peralta</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellwetherr/gifts">bellwetherr</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Heyoooo</p><p>So like... Sihtric has finger tattoos? And that’s just so cool to me? So here’s my take on what they mean because I feel like they should mean something. Still feel cheated that I only found out about them like 3 weeks ago. </p><p>This is just a little one-shot that I whipped out, and it got steamier than I expected but oh well lol. </p><p>Me: *sends teaser sentence*<br/>Java_Blythe_Peralta: “Oh boy. It’s goin, lol.”<br/>Me: “Pray for my soul.”<br/>J: I think you may have condemned yourself by now lol.”</p><p>Constructive comments are always welcome! Just don’t be rude, because nobody wants that.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He could not wait to get her out of this place. </p><p>The tavern that she worked out of was filthy, mould and dust filling the air. The drunks that flocked here were vicious and cruel.</p><p>But he chose not to think about that all for the moment. </p><p>Ealhswith was curled up Sihtric, resting her head on his bare chest. The smell of sweat hung in the room, and for a moment, the young warrior and his lady lay in silence, enjoying each others presence. </p><p>Sihtric smiled to himself as Ealhswith played with his fingers. Lord Uhtred had just given him permission to marry Ealhswith, and he was already imagining taking her to Coccham and building a home for her there. </p><p>Ealhswith was twisting one of his many rings around, but stopped suddenly. Sihtric frowned at her as she sat up and started rubbing at his fingers. “What?” He asked.</p><p>She held up his hand and spread his fingers. “I did not know you had tattoos,” she said, gesturing to the three strokes on the side of his fingers. “I always thought it was dirt.”</p><p>Sihtric laughed at her honesty and pulled her down to tuck her closer to him. “They are tattoos,” he confirmed to her. </p><p>“What are they for?” She rolled her eyes at his questioning glance, following the curve of Jormungandr around his ear and down his neck. He shivered at her soft touch. “I know your tattoos are important to you.”</p><p>He examined the lines on his right hand. They were thick and dark, and stood out against his pale skin. To his shame, it had been quite a while since he had reflected on them. There were nine in total, three on each of the first three fingers of his right hand. </p><p>“Kjartan sold me to Tekil when I was very young,” he began, explaining quietly. “I was often gone for many weeks without seeing my mother.” </p><p>Ealhswith’s face was solemn as he told her how they had come back one time to three broken fingers on his mother’s right hand. She had been carrying a large platter that had slipped and clattered to the ground, and Kjartan, in his rage, had angrily snapped the bones. The other slaves had ever learned how to set breaks, but Tekil had taught him and Sihtric spent that night breaking and resetting each finger. She nearly passed out from pain, for they were bruised and tender and the slightest touch would send fresh tears down her face and cause her to call out of her God.</p><p>He remembered the first tattoo very clearly, and brutal pain of the thorn being tapped into the hard skin and bone. But he held fast, enduring the pain. It was nothing to what his mother had to endure as he set her fingers. “Tattoos are painful, especially on the fingers. The pain I inflicted upon her was something more than I could ever inflict upon myself, even tripling the tattoos.” His thumb danced over the lines, marking each one. </p><p>The relaxed mood in the room was gone, and in its place was a heavy sadness. Gently, Ealhswith sat up, taking his hand and bringing it to her mouth, kissing each finger and his palm. He sat up beside her and ran his other hand through her curly hair, tangling his fingers between the strands. </p><p>“You are not a bad son for what you did, Sihtric.” She whispered to him, mouth against his palm. “She would have been in incredible pain had you not set the bones.”</p><p>Sihtric thanked his gods every day for finding Ealhswith. She had become a rock for him whenever they came back to Winchester. The brotherhood he had with Uhtred, Finan, Osferth, and Clapa was something that he would never give up, but Ealhswith had he ability to let Sihtric bare his soul to her in a way that he never was able to before. </p><p>He pulled her up against him, kissing her lips, her jaw, her eyelids. She let out a soft moan as he cupped her face between his hands, kissing her deeply. </p><p>She pushed him down on the bed, straddling his lap and returning the favour. Her mouth found his pulse point on his throat, and he groaned as she sucked on it. Ealhswith continued placing open-mouthed kisses along collarbone and down the centre of his chest. When she reached his stomach, his muscles jumped as she ghosted her lips across his skin. She giggled softly and did it again, and Sihtric held her back as he flinched. “That tickles,” he said, holding her wrists. </p><p>Ealhswith grinned wickedly. “I know.” She placed more kisses on his stomach and he jumped again. She let out a yelp as Sihtric suddenly rolled them over, holding himself over her. He tugged on her earlobe with his teeth, and she panted as she moved her hands over his chest. </p><p>Right now, Sihtric was incredibly thankful that they were staying in Winchester for a few days. He always hated seeing her for one night and then riding off in the early morning with Uhtred. But now that it was Aethelflaed’s wedding, he could spend his time with Ealhswith. </p><p>She groaned as he kissed her stomach, and he laughed as she twitched when his beard tickled her slightly. “I cannot wait to take you home, Ealhswith,” he said softly. </p><p>“What?” She pushed him off of her, confusion on her face. “What did you say?”</p><p>Sihtric felt heat rise in his face. He had planned on telling her during one of their walks through the city, but he could not help himself. “I-”</p><p>“Did your lord accept your request?” She whispered. Sihtric nodded, unable to keep his smile contained. She burst into tears and threw her arms around him, and he held her as she cried, relieved to be getting out of the tavern. </p><p>“I’m going to build you a house,” he promised her. “Where you can grow a garden and live as the wife of one of Lord Uhtred’s warriors.”</p><p>She kissed him deeply, more passionately than perhaps she ever had. “You are the kindest man I have ever met, Sihtric.” She said to him. “And I hope that I can bring you happiness.”</p><p>Ealhswith <em>was</em> his happiness. But he could not help but think about what she said earlier. He glimpsed the dark strokes of the tattoos on his fingers. He had only gotten them to remind him of the pain he had inflicted, but Ealhswith’s words stuck with him. Perhaps it was a kindness to his mother, that he had to set her fingers and cause her pain. </p><p><em>You are the kindest man I have ever met.</em> He allowed himself to believe her words, that he <em>was</em> a kind man. He looked at the tattoos on his fingers again, but he didn’t see the pain that they were meant to represent. He saw how gently he had held his mother’s fingers, how they had gingerly wrapped each finger after setting it. The pain had been a kindness, and her fingers had healed quite well. </p><p>Ealhswith missed him again, and his heart swelled with love for her. She was everything he had dreamed his woman would be. “I love you so much,” he whispered softly.</p><p>She nodded, resting her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “I love you too.”</p><p>He just held her tightly, relishing in her presence, and let himself imagine the life that was coming for them.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>